Managing quality in outsourcing of high-end services: a conceptual model

Abstract

As the nature of outsourced services changes from routine to high-end tasks, new challenges in managing service quality emerge for service providers. While several frameworks exist for measuring and monitoring quality for traditional services, their applicability in the context of high-end tasks merits attention. Moreover, the changing nature of outsourced services also generates the need to identify the factors that affect service quality. This article presents a unique combination of the SERVQUAL model and e-Sourcing Capability Maturity framework to explore the antecedents of service gaps. The research is based on a qualitative study carried out on data collected from senior managers from various Indian service providers using interviews and semi-structured questionnaires. In line with TQM's integrative philosophy of continuous improvement, the article goes on to address the issue of continuous improvement by utilising knowledge inherent in non-numeric operational data generated during service delivery. The conceptual model of a self-learning system which can be used for creating quality-related knowledge from operational data is proposed. It is further argued that though different scenarios would need to be addressed independently, the generality of the principles of application of the overall conceptual framework and its implementation processes can be attempted with significant success.

Keywords:

• outsourcing
• service quality
• artificial intelligence
• knowledge management
• high-end services